


the air is humming (and something great is coming)

by fluorescent_adolescent13



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, a musical within a musical, alyssa as maria goodness, emma is an md and alyssa is a cast member, rehearsals and shows and touring the country, what's the opposite of a slow burn though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluorescent_adolescent13/pseuds/fluorescent_adolescent13
Summary: “Hi,” a voice said suddenly. Emma jolted in surprise, her head darting up only to be met with an outstretched hand in front of her face. “Sorry - I’m Alyssa. I mean, you know that, we’ve met.” She fumbled with a slight laugh. “But we haven’t really met met, y’know?”“I do know,” Emma smiled, her lips tugging upwards. “I'm Emma...but I guess you know that too.”-OR Emma is the Musical Director for a touring production of West Side Story and Alyssa is in the cast.
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this idea has been bubbling for so long.
> 
> if you liked this please shoot me a review and let me know what you think, or what you'd like to see. thank you for reading!

Emma was trying as hard as she could not to show everyone else in the room how much of a simmering ball of nerves she was. 

Her anxiety had settled considerably in the time since she had first stepped into the rehearsal studio though, and she was grateful, but it was still very much lingering on the edge of her periphery. It was always the same with a new show. It didn’t matter how many productions she’d worked her way through or how many casts she had gotten to know. It was always the same routine. 

This time felt different though. There was a sense of anticipation in the air that felt like it was charged with electricity. 

They had gone through all of the introductions quickly, making sure that the cast and creatives were as well acquainted as they could be before the gruelling process of piecing their show together began. Emma could remember a few faces from the various rounds of auditions that they’d held over the past few weeks. The months of touring with each other that lay ahead of them felt impossible though. 

But hey, if they didn’t know each other now they certainly would soon enough, Emma thought.

They read through act one in just under two hours. It seemed to whiz by in a haze of enthusiasm. They had all settled into a half circle of chairs, one row in front of the other, with Emma and Barry stationed at front, though Emma was grateful at least that she could hide behind the safety net of her piano. The cast were doing their best to lace together the unfamiliar dialogue and some first attempts at the show’s numbers - sight singing their way through as best they could. 

Emma was almost surprised at how well she was holding up under the pressure too. It wasn’t that the score was difficult, there was just something about playing it for the first time with an eager audience that always brought a little fear to her fingertips. 

She flipped the next page of sheet music over, relaxing back into her stool as she listened intently to the scene. She scanned her eyes over the music as the sound of Barry’s voice giving faux stage directions filled the room, lifting her gaze only to glance up to the female ensemble sitting to her right. She wasn’t sure how the next song was going to go. After having seen the revival of West Side Story a few years previously Barry was intent on dragging a few of the ideas he’d forged, inspired by the production back then, into the new production.

They just happened to include a version of ‘I Feel Pretty’ with a verse and chorus in Spanish.

Emma couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle as she looked at a wave of eyebrows pinching together. She couldn’t blame them. Her knowledge of Spanish extended as far as high school and that was about it.

“Just do your best,” Emma heard herself saying, the words of encouragement slipping past her lips without a second thought. She bit the inside of her lip as her hands found their way to the keys. “Help each other out.”

Carrie (their Maria) opened her mouth after a few bars of introduction. Her pronunciation was far better than Emma had expected it to be, though it was clear there and then how much work was going to have to go into this number in particular. Emma made a mental note of that. A quick glance across the studio to Angie told her that they were all a little surprised. 

“ _Hoy me siento, tan preciosa...tan graciosa, que puedo volar.._.”

Emma nodded along with the beat, a small smile playing on her lips. It was promising. The other girls didn’t look as sure as Carrie but there was one brunette sitting at the end of the row and mouthing along to the part, waiting patiently for the ensemble part to arrive, that caught Emma’s eye. She recognised her from her audition. Understudy Maria and Anita. She didn’t have the kind of face that you could easily forget, Emma had thought.

Emma turned the page sharply.

“ _Aquí está mi amiga, María_ _,_ ” three of the other girls sang together. “ _La más loca de la ciudad, perdida en su fantasía...”_

Emma’s smile spread impossibly wider as she neared the last few lines of the music, her fingers darting across the keys. The rest of the cast clapped politely as she hit the button, all showing their support just as they had with every other number - though their enthusiasm was dwindling the closer that they got to lunch. Barry gave the blonde a quick thumbs up. Emma looked around at the girls again to them her own.

* * *

Lunch fell a little later than they had anticipated. Emma’s grumbling stomach was more than grateful for the food and her aching wrists were relieved at the break they were getting.

“We have a good few hours to work with this afternoon,” Barry began, tapping his pencil against the open folder in front of him. He flipped a page, his eyes scanning down the rehearsal schedule that they had drafted in the days before. “I’ve left things relatively open for the rest of the week to ease in, so we can decide as we go how we want to take things. Angie?”

The older woman nodded as she peeled back the skin of her orange and popped a slice into her mouth. “Let’s keep it simple today. I have a few ideas for the opening-”

Emma scribbled a few notes down as she finished the last few bites of her sandwich, reaching with a full mouth for the granola bar on the table. 

“Nolan?”

Emma swallowed harshly, clearing her throat. Her attention snapped back to the conversation. “That works for me. We can work the Jet Song in with it.”

“I could use you for the accompaniment.”

“Mhmm,” Emma hummed in agreement, flashing the other woman a smile. “That’s what I’m here for. I’d like to make a start with Tony too tomorrow morning if that works.”

Barry nodded as he clapped his hands together contentedly. “Perfect. I can do some scene work with the girls.”

Emma let out a breath as her eyes flickered to Barry’s folder and then to Angie’s, and then to her own music. There was a lot of work ahead of them. She couldn’t have been more excited for it though. 

* * *

Emma hit the final chord of the song, shaking out her wrists as soon as the dancers started to disperse in search of their water bottles. The first day of rehearsals had flown by them all and before she knew it she was slamming a hand down on her phone to quiet the alarm on the morning of day two. Sleep hadn’t been her friend. Emma found herself a little less enthusiastic about rehearsal as she got ready in her apartment - at least until her first sip of coffee on the way there. 

Her eyes drifted over to Angie as she took a long drink from her own bottle. It may have only been day two but the older woman hadn’t wasted any time in getting the company started on some of the trickier choreography early in the show. And conditioning. And a warm up that left Emma out of breath just from watching it. She was thankful to be behind her piano, at least. 

“Hey Sondheim,” Greg grinned, plopping his elbow down on the lid of the piano as he took a huge chunk out of his apple. “Keeping up?”

Emma shooed him away from the instrument. She didn’t need a sweaty boy over her stuff, let alone her cousin - the sweaty boy that she was all too familiar with being annoyed by. She corrected him with a waving hand. “Sondheim wrote the lyrics, not the music.”

She tried to swat him away from the piano again as he leaned against it but he took no notice.

“What do you think?”

Emma’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do I think of what?”

A sheepish smile spread across his lips. His voice lowered to a whisper. “Y’know, all of this...how is it looking?”

Emma let out a laugh. “Oh, for sure, we’re ready to open.”

“Em-”

“I think it’s early...but things look _good_ ,” she reassured him earnestly. “You make a fine Diesel, Greg, if that’s what you’re trying to ask me.”

He nodded to himself as he turned away, the tiny moment of quiet validation enough to put a spring in his step. He swivelled back and shot her a click of his fingers in an unmistakably Jet-like fashion. Emma groaned at the cheesiness. She wasn’t sure how she would survive him for the rest of the production that was for sure. She knew that she would relish giving him a hard time at every opportunity though, so things were even enough.

Emma took another sip before she placed her bottle back down, sliding it further under the piano with her foot. Her attention turned straight back to the music. She flicked the score back a few pages - searching for the trickier section of the opening number that she hadn’t quite managed to get her fingers around yet. That was priority number one. 

“Emma-” Angie called suddenly. “Can we jump back to the beginning? I want to run the first forty seconds or so before the dialogue cuts in.”

Just the stretch of bars she had been looking at. Emma let out a sigh, waiting for the choreographer’s cue before her hands pressed down on ivory yet again.

* * *

As much as Alyssa was trying to enjoy having more laid back days of rehearsals, by the time that day three rolled around she was beyond grateful to be back on her feet again. There was something about a new production that always seemed to light a fire underneath her skin, and the music that they had been working on had only intensified the feeling. She wanted to move, she wanted to dance. 

Keeping up with everyone else though was proving to be a challenge all on its own though. 

Alyssa tried to mask her short, sharp breaths as they transitioned from the mambo sequence of the song onto the cha-cha, and then further onto the moment that Tony and Maria - or rather, Kevin and Carrie - saw each other from across the floor for the first time. 

“Okay,” Angie said suddenly, cutting off the music sharply. “Take five and then we’ll come back.”

Alyssa let out a sigh of relief, hoping that she didn’t look too grateful for the short break. Shelby was by her side a moment later, knocking their shoulders together and the smile back onto her face again. 

“I don’t think that I’m going to be able to breathe for this entire show,” Shelby laughed. 

“Spare a thought for me and my cover tracks,” Alyssa huffed, reaching down for her water bottle as they reached their bags. Her eyes wandered over to the piano, or rather, the blonde that was sitting behind it skipping back a few pages absentmindedly. 

“It hurts being this good,” Shelby joked. She broke off a piece of the protein bar that she had been unwrapping, offering a piece to the other woman. Alyssa took it without even a glance. Shelby followed her eye line, a smirk taking over her lips as they arrived at Emma too. 

“Thanks."

“She’s good isn’t she,” Shelby said, testing the waters. “She’s young though, probably only the same age as us.”

Alyssa only hummed in response, her attention turning away from the pianist as Kaylee nudged her shoulder. 

“What did I miss?”

“I think someone’s still a little distracted.”

“What-” Alyssa frowned, her eyebrows pinching together sharply. Shelby quirked an eyebrow, her previous words loaded, though Alyssa didn’t want to hear it. She knew exactly what her friend meant by that. “No, I’m not. She’s just...good.”

She missed the look shared between the pair as she took a bite.

“Well,” Kaylee shrugged. She would keep her ammunition for another time, just as she’d been doing since their first rehearsal. It would be worth it eventually, she would bet on that right now. “Beats some old, miserable drill sergeant of an MD anyway.”

“Definitely."

“Oh, do you remember the MD for Cabaret in college, ‘Lys? God, what was her name?”

“Marie, I think,” Alyssa replied absentmindedly, her attention already drifting away again. Nothing to lose, she thought as she put her water bottle back in her bag. “I’ll be back in a second.”

“What-?”

Alyssa’s back was turned before she could answer. 

* * *

“Hi,” a voice said suddenly from in front of her. Emma jolted in surprise, her head darting up only to be met with an outstretched hand in front of her face. Her gaze continued upwards as she reached out to take the person's hand, shaking it lightly as she met the pair of deep brown eyes that they belonged to. “Sorry - I’m Alyssa. I mean, you know that, we’ve met.” She fumbled with a slight laugh. “But we haven’t really met _met_ , y’know?”

“I do know,” Emma smiled, her lips tugging upwards as she let go of the brunette’s hand. “I'm Emma...but I guess you know that too.”

“I just figured, well, I have a hard enough time remembering everyone’s names, especially in a cast this size, and I figured you might too - even if everyone knows who you are - and you weren’t in auditions or callbacks so...”

“Yeah,” Emma nodded, the smile never leaving her face. “I was on another show.”

They both paused for a second, their eyes locking onto one another's but neither of them said a single word. It could have been an hour for all that either of them knew. It didn’t feel awkward though. It felt familiar. Like they had known each other for years. 

“Well,” Alyssa said bashfully. “I’ll leave you to it. I just wanted to introduce myself a little more personally, I guess.”

“Yeah, I should probably, um-” Emma nodded again as she reached back to her score, fumbling with the pages. She couldn’t help but notice the soft dimple that popped onto Alyssa’s cheek as her smile grew. “I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.”

Emma watched intently as the brunette turned away again, feeling the air leave her lungs in one sweeping motion like a breath she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding. She might not have been in the audition room but she remembered all of their tapes. Some were clear in her mind even now. Well, one in particular was. 

She remembered rooting for Alyssa Greene to be their Maria. 

* * *

Angie bobbed her head along with the music, her hands coming together sharply to keep a strong beat as they powered through the dance at the gym for the third time in a row that day. 

“One, two. One, two,” the blonde called out above the music. “On the beat!”

Emma could feel her arms starting to ache, a tension growing between her shoulder blades that was threatening to stick if she didn’t have a break soon. As winter had begun to turn into spring, afternoons were becoming a little hotter in New York, and it seemed like the sun was taking advantage of its newfound ability to shine through the windows and turn their rehearsal space into a sauna. Emma’s sweater had long been abandoned in the corner of her room with her back, and the thick coat and scarf that were still hanging expectantly on the hook by her door were a long forgotten memory. She couldn’t wait to relegate them to the depths of her apartment. 

“Mambo!”

Emma couldn’t help but smile at the sound of the cast. The look of serious concentration that had settled on her face melted quickly into a lopsided grin as they called out in unison. It was tiny moments like that in the early days of productions that kept her going. Moments that made them feel that they could tackle the weeks and months that were ahead of them because at least for right in that second, they had it covered. They could take on the world. 

The music slowed after another minute or so, drifting into the next section of the song that was considerably more relaxed. It was a relief compared to the earlier dance - for all involved. Emma’s head rose up from the sheet music for a moment to look at the group, though many had moved to the side just as they would if they were on stage. There were four pairs left, positioned slightly apart, but moving in perfect unison already.

The call and response of the piano and dancer’s clicking fingers made Emma’s heart swell in her chest. She could practically hear her band playing in front of her now too, a soft sweeping melody in the woodwind with the backing of strings. It would be like something from a dream. Her eyes drifted from pair to pair until they settled on Alyssa. Her gaze stayed there for a second longer than she should have, she realised, when she botched her page turn. 

Emma would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about their conversation yesterday. She had replayed it in her head more times than she wanted to admit.

In one of the rare moments that it did manage to leave her mind, she had come face to face with the brunette again. 

“Hey,” Alyssa said brightly during a break, tapping out a rhythm against the wooden lid of the piano as she leaned against the instrument. 

“Hey,” Emma smiled immediately.

She could never figure out how the brunette could be as energetic as she was after pulling off a routine that made Emma exhausted just by watching. 

“So,” Alyssa began. “Some of the cast are going for a drink later if you want to join?”

“Oh.” Not what she had been expecting at all. “I mean, I would love to but I don’t want to intrude or anything, and I don’t know them all that well so-”

Alyssa cut off her ramble. “That’s exactly the reason you should come!” She found herself putting emphasis on the second half. “Get to know everyone?”

Emma nodded. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. Alyssa’s expectant eyes were on her and she could feel her throat getting more dry by the second. Getting to know everyone would be fun, right?

“I, um,” she said, clearing her throat as her gaze dipped down again. “I have a couple of things to do tonight but I’ll stop by if I finish up early.”

“Great!” Alyssa beamed. She leaned over the piano a little further, snatching up the stack of sticky notes that Emma kept on standby, and the pen by its side. “Greg can give you the details - he’s your cousin, right?”

“Right,” Emma nodded, watching intently as the brunette scribbled something down before handing it to her. 

“Here’s my number just in case.”

Emma’s eyes shot down to the paper, her gaze dancing across the elegant scrawl. When she looked up Alyssa was already back with the dancers again. 

* * *

“Hey,” Greg said, bumping his shoulder against Emma’s playfully as they walked through the studio door. “What’s going on with you?”

“Huh,” Emma asked. She hadn’t even realised they were there yet, her legs had gone into autopilot that morning. She pushed her hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear as she looked up to him. “Oh, nothing. I’m fine.”

He was as unconvinced as he began. “You should tell your face that.”

“Just a little stressed. I’m fine, honestly,” Emma assured him. “What’s going on with you?”

“I was bummed that you didn’t stop by last night,” he commented, completely bypassing the blonde’s question. Emma could tell already by his tone that he had an ulterior motive in mentioning it. “I was going to ask you to come but Alyssa mentioned that she’d already asked you.”

There it was. 

“Yeah,” Emma hummed as she shrugged her jacket off, tossing it behind her stool. Greg looked at her expectantly as he stopped short of the piano, waiting for her to give him something. Anything. In all honesty, it had been the last thing on her mind last night. “I got caught up with practice, I have a concert next week so-”

She sunk down onto her stool and tucked away her bag to her left. It wasn’t a complete lie. She had intended to show face, really, but the further that the night progressed the deeper she found herself in a mountain of sheet music, and then before she knew it her anxiety was skyrocketing and she couldn’t bring herself to even leave the apartment. So she kept her head down and worked through it. It would have been nice to see the cast - to see Alyssa, her thoughts probed - but there would be other chances. 

“I don’t think I was the only one that was disappointed.”

“No?” Emma asked nonchalantly. 

She knew what he was implying. It was too early for her to let that thought into her mind though, too early for her to get invested in something that hadn’t happened yet, too early to get any of her hopes up. Emma grimaced internally at that train of thought. She was worried about something that wasn’t even real. 

Greg’s lips curled into a coy smile. “Nolan, you’re not telling me something.”

She shook her head firmly, reaching down to pull out her score and libretto, and setting them up in front of her. She flicked open the sheets, trying to aim her focus on them instead of on her prying cousin. 

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Alyssa is great-”

Emma winced, forcing her tone out in a harsh whisper so that the cast members trickling into the room wouldn’t hear. “There’s nothing going on with Alyssa.”

He continued. “-like _really_ great. I worked with her on some summer stock.”

“Greg-”

“Just hear me out,” he chuckled. “There’s a reason that people tell you not to shit where you eat, and there’s a long road ahead of us here. I just want you to be careful.”

“We’re four days into rehearsal, Greg. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Greg nodded. “I’m just putting it out there.”

Emma let out a long sigh. They weren’t even a week into rehearsals yet. It was more likely that she would get struck by lightning before her and Alyssa ever had anything. It was silly to even be humouring the idea - not to mention the fact that it was inappropriate. It wasn’t just an idea of a silly fling between cast mates that she was entertaining. Not to mention how big a job this was for her - she didn’t want to jeopardise it before she even had a chance to enjoy it. 

She knew she’d be lying if she didn’t feel something when their hands met the other day though. Or that her stomach didn’t dip when Alyssa came to talk to her by the piano. Or that her heart did pound slightly faster in her chest as she watched the brunette dance. 

Emma’s head shot round as the sound of laughter echoed around the space, her eyes meeting a flurry of brunette curls immediately as Alyssa floated through the door. Her voice seemed to cut through the rest. It was like music to Emma’s ears. 

She brought her head into her hands. She hadn’t been counting on someone like Alyssa Greene at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! i would love to hear what you guys think - its really encouraging when people give a little feedback, so let me know. i am a sucker for them so this hopefully won't be on the slow burn side of things - i don't have the patience for it and i love love love their love, but that doesn't mean their wont be a little drama along the way.
> 
> so let me know! thank you so much again for reading!

“Yes,” Emma chuckled as she switched her cell phone over to the other ear. “I am definitely eating enough.”

Betsy Nolan always gave her granddaughter the same worried spiel every time that she called, and today was no exception to that. It didn’t matter what time of day it was or where she was, it was always the same. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you remembering to eat? Are you taking enough breaks? She couldn’t blame the older woman for asking - she knew the blonde too well. Emma had been the same ever since she had been in high school - spending more time on the music in front of her than she ever did on herself. It was a habit she could never see herself breaking and though it was a curse in a lot of ways, it had gotten her to where she was now. 

For that at least she was grateful.

Emma leaned back against the wall behind her as she listened intently to her grandmother tell a story about someone’s nephew, or maybe it was a woman from her church group’s nephew, that went to school with her. She was trying to listen, honestly, but all of her concentration seemed to melt away in an instant as her eyes latched onto a figure on the other side of the road, crossing towards her.

“Good morning,” Alyssa smiled as she passed by Emma, pushing open the door before the blonde even had a chance to say it back.

“Emma?” Betsy asked through the phone as the blonde grew silent suddenly. “Who was that?”

“What?” Emma frowned. She cleared her throat. “Nothing, nobody. Just one of the cast.”

She huffed, not quite content with Emma’s answer. Emma didn’t know how she did it. She could always sense when there was something going on - not that there was anything  _ going on _ , Emma thought quickly. It was like a maternal superpower. “Well alright. Give me a call when you can. I’ll leave you to get to rehearsal.”

“Love you,” Emma sighed. “Talk soon.”

Emma hung up, slipping her phone into her jacket pocket as she followed the path that Alyssa had just taken - hoping to catch the brunette before she disappeared up into the studio. Alyssa was standing by the elevator, waiting patiently for the doors to slide open and let her in. Her head swivelled round as the sound of Emma’s footsteps behind her met her ears. 

“Hi, again,” Alyssa smiled. She motioned to the elevator. “Usually I take the stairs but my legs are killing me today and I’m not sure I could make it to the top without keeling over.”

“Oh, you don’t have to explain yourself to me,” Emma said, her lips curling upwards. She leaned forward and pressed the button a few more times. “I’m a strong advocate for laziness whenever possible.”

* * *

“So,” Emma said, her hands falling onto the keys. “Let's take it from ‘life can be bright in America’. Ready?” They nodded. “Three and-”

“ _ Life can be bright in America, if you can’t fight in America _ ,” the chorus sang back at her. “ _ Life is alright in America- _ .”

Emma hummed along quietly with the melody until they finally reached the end of the section, coming to a stop where the dance break would usually pick up. “Good. It’s much of a sameness throughout. Altos, just make sure you’re hitting the right harmony. It’s just the same note repeated-” She demonstrated on the piano. “A-mer-i-ca.” A small group of girls to her left nodded back at her, some quietly singing what she had just played to commit it to memory. “Why don’t we take five and then we can run it through from the beginning before we put it together with choreo?”

Most of the chorus dispersed, though some stayed where they were - pulling out their phones for a few minutes. Emma pencilled something into her score.

“Can you give me that last line one more time?”

“Really?” Emma quirked an eyebrow as she looked up, meeting Alyssa’s gaze. “Sounded like the sopranos had it down to me.”

“Of course we did,” the brunette smirked as she took a sip from her cup. “I could sing this in my sleep.”

“I’ll be holding you to that,” Emma laughed. Her eyes flickered down to Alyssa’s hand, noticing the familiar sticker that was plastered on the side of her cup. “Black Medicine?”

“Huh?” Alyssa frowned. Her expressions softened as Emma pointed to it. “Oh, yeah. It’s right around the corner from my place. I go there all the time.”

“Me too. I go like every morning.”

“Maybe we’ll cross paths sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Emma nodded.

“I should...,” Alyssa dragged off, motioning back to her seat. She pushed herself away from the piano and back in the direction of the cast, but Emma found herself opening her mouth again before she had a chance to hold herself back.

“Hey-” The brunette turned back suddenly. “Do you maybe want to meet me there tomorrow morning? We could walk here together?”

“I-,” Alyssa’s lips curled into a smile. She hadn’t expected the blonde to be as forward. 

“I just mean,” Emma fumbled, misinterpreting the other woman’s hesitation. “If you’re going to be there anyway it might be nice to have some company for a change-”

Alyssa cut her off. “How does eight-thirty sound?”

Emma nodded, letting out a small sigh of relief. “That sounds perfect.”

* * *

Emma’s shoulder bumped against Alyssa’s again. She gave the brunette a mumbled apology. The streets were always busy at this time in the morning and they were battling their way through like fish swimming against the current. The air was crisp. Fall was quickly turning colder with every day that passed them by and New York was never kind when it came to the weather. She looked to Alyssa, whose hands were wrapped tightly around her coffee cup for warmth, as the traffic around them evened out, giving Emma the chance to say something more than just stuttered small talk. 

“So,” Emma cleared her throat. Alyssa’s head turned. She had to push the probing thoughts of how cute the brunette looked bundled up in her coat and scarf, with her cheeks flushed and her nose rosey, straight to the back of her mind. Emma knew that she couldn’t let herself indulge in it. Especially if she wanted to at least try and hold a coherent conversation. “What were you working on before this?”

“After graduation I was with a dance company for a little bit-”

“Yeah?”

Alyssa nodded. “But then I moved onto a couple of regional shows, dance captaining during some summer stock. You know, the usual.” Emma nodded along listening intently. She could vaguely remember some of the notches on Alyssa’s resume from way back when auditions had started. “And then I caught a break during a cast change for Aladdin. I was in the ensemble but then I managed to make my debut as Jasmine...and now, I’m here I guess.”

“That’s amazing,” Emma smiled. 

“Yeah, it was something,” Alyssa grinned. “She was the one Disney character that I admired growing up - the only one that looked a little like me. So it was definitely special.”

“I wasn’t big on Disney growing up,” Emma shrugged. “But I used to watch all the Golden Age musicals with my gran whenever I got to visit her.”

“What was your favourite?”

Emma gave her a look that told her the answer was obvious. “Singing in the Rain. It has to be.”

Alyssa chuckled. “I  _ love  _ that movie. Did you get to visit her often?”

“Um,” Emma replied, a little quieter. “Quite a lot, actually.”

Alyssa’s eyebrows furrowed, noticing the way that the blonde’s demeanour changed almost instantly, the flicker of excitement dying from her eyes. Her heart sank. She played back the last thing that she had said, searching for whatever it was that she said. “Sorry if that was...I don’t know, a touchy subject?”

“No,” Emma shook her head profusely. “It’s fine. Just a long story.”

“Okay,” Alyssa nodded reassuringly. She didn’t want to push it any further. “So, what stop are you most excited for? When we finally get going, that is.”

“I don’t know, actually. I’m going to miss being at home.”

“Me too,” she said. “But anywhere that’s warmer than here would be a blessing. I don’t know if I can stomach another New York winter.”

Emma chuckled. “It’s not that bad.” 

Alyssa hummed in gentle disagreement, pulling her coat tighter around herself. “I suppose the snow is nice.”

“Just the snow?”

“And all the lights are pretty cool too,” Alyssa continued. “Have you ever gone ice skating in Central Park?”

“Oh, trust me. That is not something that you want to see.” 

Alyssa laughed, images of the blonde sliding across the ice like a baby deer walking for the first time entering her mind. That was definitely something that she wanted to witness firsthand. 

* * *

By the time that Emma made it from her apartment to Black Medicine the morning after that, Alyssa had already gotten there and was waiting patiently outside with a cup in each hand. Emma couldn’t help but smile as she spotted the brunette from the other side of the street. If this was going to be how it was every morning before rehearsal, she couldn’t see much reason to complain at all. 

“You’re early,” Emma called when she was a few feet away. 

“And you look like you haven’t slept a wink all night,” Alyssa quipped back. She handed the blonde her drink. Emma’s smile only grew as she looked down to the order penned onto the side - her order. She hadn’t realised that Alyssa had been paying attention yesterday. “Please tell me that you got a little sleep at least?”

“I...,” Emma started. “...definitely did sleep at some point.”

Alyssa groaned, nudging her gently as they began walking the familiar route to the studio. “I probably shouldn’t ask how long for.”

Emma let out a laugh. “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” She took a long sip from her cup, relishing the taste as the steaming liquid hit her tongue. Coffee had been the first thing on her mind the minute that she had woken up. Alyssa had been close to follow it but Emma told herself that it was only because the two went hand in hand of late. She snuck a glance at the brunette, wrapped up in the same scarf that she had been wearing all week. “Cold?”

“Always,” Alyssa nodded. “I got caught in the rain when I was running this morning and I haven’t been able to shake it.”

“I figured that you were a morning person-” Alyssa’s eyebrows raised at the statement, feigning offense. “But an early morning exerciser too? Why do you hate yourself?”

“Only some days. It helps me clear my head.”

“A lot on your mind?”

Alyssa shrugged. “A couple of things.”

“Well, at least you’ll have Angie on your case today to get your mind off of it.”

She laughed. “Yeah, that’s for sure. How about you? A lot on your mind to be up all night?”

“I’m arranging some music for a friend’s show next week,” Emma started. “I’m just trying to finalise some stuff for the band but I’ve kind of hit a wall with it. My brain is at capacity with new music right now.”

“Maybe it’s the lack of sleep,” Alyssa quipped back, her tone teasing. “I’m sure that doesn’t help the creative process.”

Emma lips quirked upwards. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Alyssa couldn’t avoid the look that Kaylee shot her when she and Emma finally made it to the studio, walking through the door at the same time for the second morning in a row. She gave Emma a quick goodbye, leaving the blonde to settle herself at her piano stool, before heading in her friend’s direction and bracing herself for whatever comment was about to come flying her way. 

“Shut up,” Alyssa sighed before Kaylee even had a chance to say hello. 

“I didn’t say a word,” she replied, trying and failing miserably to mask the smirk that was fighting its way across her lips. 

Alyssa tossed her duffel bag down onto the floor, plopping herself down next to it with her back against the wall. She pulled her scarf from around her neck and slipped her jacket off her shoulders. “I know what you were going to say though.”

“Oh,” Kaylee chuckled as she sat down in front of the brunette. “I don’t think you do.”

* * *

“You fell flat on your face?” Emma asked in disbelief.

“Fully ate shit,” Alyssa nodded, grimacing slightly at the memory. 

“On stage?”

Alyssa nodded. “On stage.”

“That is...” Emma searched for the right words. She didn’t want to be mean. “So close to being hilarious.”

Alyssa bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from smiling, forcing a serious look onto her face. “I can’t believe that you would find one of the most traumatising nights of my childhood  _ funny _ .”

“I’m sorry,” Emma held back a laugh. She cleared her throat, trying again to keep a straight face. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I mean, it is pretty funny looking back. I’m not sure my mom would say that same,” Alyssa shrugged. “But I’ll allow it.”

Emma hummed, leaning back in her chair as she watched the brunette take a long drink from her cup. They had decided to meet a little earlier. Rehearsals fell a little later that day so it left them with a little wiggle room to just...hang out. Emma tried not to think too much into it though. They were always just going to be friends - and this was exactly what friends did. It was nice. It just took Emma a second to get over herself and the fact that they were alone, sitting face to face in a coffee shop. Walking to rehearsal was different. Being in rehearsal was different. This just felt  _ personal _ .

“You were only a kid. These things happen, right?” Emma shrugged. “I’m sure that she would find it funny now too.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Emma couldn’t help but notice the way that Alyssa seemed to retreat into herself, as though stuck on a part of the story that she wasn’t quite willing to share. She could see her eyes change - finally flickering back to reality a moment or so later. Emma’s curiosity probed at her but she knew that it wasn’t her place to ask. For all she knew she was just overthinking the brunette’s reaction. It was a harmless childhood story. Alyssa cleared her throat, glancing down to her wrist. “We should probably get going.”

Emma nodded, taking a final sip to finish her coffee off, before pushing herself up and following closely behind the other woman. The cold air hit them like a ton of bricks as they stepped out of the coffee shop and onto the street again. Emma took her place beside Alyssa as they started to walk in the same direction as always, but they were both unusually quiet. It was strange. Even when Emma’s awkwardness was at its peak they still managed to fumble their way through a conversation. 

Emma looked to Alyssa but her gaze was focused dead ahead. “Was your mom tough on you when you were growing up?”

Alyssa nodded. “Yeah. She always wanted me to be the best, I guess.”

“I get that.”

“It was a lot of pressure sometimes,” Alyssa continued. “But it got me to where I am so I shouldn’t complain really. It all worked out.”

“I guess that’s just what all parents wan-”

The brunette cut her off suddenly, turning to her with a smile on her face but a pleading look in her eyes that was just as clear. “Could we maybe talk about something else?”

Emma nodded sharply. “Yeah, of course.”

But neither of them said another word until they made it to the studio.

“Nolan!” Barry called, catching her attention the moment that she walked through the door. 

“Yeah?” 

Emma turned to say a quick something to Alyssa, but the brunette was already making a beeline for the other side of the rehearsal space. She puffed out her cheeks and let out a slow breath as the older man barrelled towards her. 

“Slight change of plan today. Carrie is doing some scene work with me this morning, there’s some things I want to finish up with her,” he said. Emma didn’t know how he always seemed to have so much energy so early in the morning. “Can you have Alyssa fill in for Tonight with Kevin until I’m finished? It’ll do her some good and Angie is working with the boys until lunch anyway.”

“Sure,” Emma nodded along. She shimmied off her jacket, kicking her bag to its usual spot underneath the piano. “What about the rest of the girls?”

“They’re going over some choreo next door until they’re called.”

“Got it.”

She fell back onto her stool, her hands automatically reaching out to the score in front of her. She watched as Barry practically skipped across the studio to Alyssa - no doubt filling her in on their new plan for the morning. Alyssa nodded intently along as he spoke, glancing to Emma briefly with a small smile on her lips. Emma’s head darted down. She knew that she would eventually have to be working with the alternates on certain numbers but it wasn’t pencilled in for another week or so. She figured that she would have a little more time to prepare herself. The thought alone of Alyssa singing some of Maria’s solos had her heart doing somersaults. 

She shook the thought from her mind, forcing herself to focus on the music in front of her as she stretched out her fingers.

“Hey,” a yawning Kevin said suddenly as he reached the piano.

The perfect distraction, Emma thought.

“Hey, Kev,” she replied, smiling at the dopey grin that fell across his lips. “Late night?”

“These early mornings are a killer.”

Emma chuckled. “How’s your voice feeling? How about we go through a quick warm up, get things moving.”

He nodded, and they did. Kevin buzzed and hummed along with a few simple exercises - a string of vowels escaping past his lips at Emma’s encouragement as she moved onto some quick scales moving up and down the length of his range. Alyssa appeared halfway through, taking on the notes and octave higher as Kevin continued. She mouthed a quick sorry to the blonde as they finished up. Emma shook her head slightly, letting her know that she was fine, but she knew that it wasn’t just the late arrival to the piano that she was apologising for. 

“Alright,” Emma smiled. “Let’s just get going.” She flipped forward a few pages in her score until she found the right one. “Why don’t we take it from the dialogue on page thirty-one and I can give you an idea of where the underscore lies. Then we’ll just jump straight into Alyssa’s ‘only you’ and see how we get on. Sound good?”

They both nodded, their eyes dropping down onto their open librettos. 

“ _ Maria- _ ”

“ _ Shh _ ,” Alyssa chastised gently.

“ _ Maria! _ ”

“ _ Quiet! _ ”

Emma’s fingers began moving across the keys in a quiet imitation of what her orchestra would be playing - a familiar reprise of ‘Maria’ coming out in a gentle pianissimo, urging the scene along as Kevin continued on.

“ _ Come down! _ ”

“ _ No- _ ”

“ _ Maria- _ ”

“ _ Please, if Bernardo hears you- _ ”

“ _ He’s still at the dance _ ,” Kevin cut across her. “ _ Come down. Just for a minute. _ ”

Alyssa tucked a loose curl behind her ear, a smile playing on her lips as she looked up from the dialogue to Kevin. “ _ A minute is not enough _ .”

Emma couldn’t help but smile too as the scene played on. It was undeniably beautiful, and the pair already had a chemistry that she knew could rival Carrie and Kevin’s if only given the chance to grow in the same way. Still though, Emma would enjoy it for however long she could. She knew who her Maria was before they had even finished casting the show. Eventually, they reached the beginning of the song. Emma turned a page just as the final few lines of dialogue arrived. 

“ _ I see you _ ,” Alyssa said, taking a small step closer to Kevin.

“ _ Then see only me. _ ”

Emma glanced back up to the pair, watching as Alyssa took a deep breath before opening her mouth again. It was only as the brunette did so that Emma realised how right she had been before.

“ _ Only you, you’re the only thing I’ll see forever _ ,” she sang softly, her voice floating above the music. “ _ In my eyes, in my words, and in everything I do...nothing else but you ever... _ ”

There was nothing that the blonde could have done to prepare herself for a rehearsal like this. Even if it was next week like they had planned, she would never have been ready. There was no way that Emma could have kept her heart from thumping the way that it did as they drew nearer and nearer the chorus of the song. She urged herself to keep focused on the notes and the bars in front of her, but there was a tugging in her chest that she couldn’t ignore even if she tried. 

Emma tried to put it down to pride. She always felt like this when a show started to come together. She was always a little emotional when things started to shape up.

" _Today_ _the world was just an address, a place for me to live in_ ,” the pair sang together in unison. “ _ No better than alright- _ ”

She just felt this way because she was proud, Emma tried to tell herself again. 

Or maybe it was just Alyssa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me the thought of izzy as maria doesn't make your heart swell. she's pulled of a killer anita before, but i would love her as maria

**Author's Note:**

> this idea has been bubbling for so long.
> 
> if you liked this please shoot me a review and let me know what you think, or what you'd like to see. thank you for reading!


End file.
